Chapter 3- The Third Training Ground

"No man is an island,

entire of itself."

-JOHN DONNE

The early morning sky was a shade of calming pale blue as the many inhabitants of Konoha stirred from their slumber. The sun seemed dim as it greeted the waking world, which for an outsider might have seemed like a strange occurrence, doubly so because it was already the middle of June, but in reality it was quite an ordinary sight. Though the summer in the land of fire ran long, it was not usually unbearably hot and unlike many of the other nations, save the land of rain, it had a high percentage of rainfall.

So when Naruto Uzumaki, or rather Kamen Sakamoto, a name he had inscribed onto his fake visa in the heat of the moment, looked out his window and spotted the distant grey clouds, he could tell that it was soon to rain.

Yesterday had been a total, complete and utter failure in Kamen's eyes. Not only had he failed miserably at finding a way to make money, which he had discovered was ridiculously hard when you weren't a registered shinobi, but he had also made contact with team seven and the sand siblings. Looking back on it he couldn't even begin to comprehend what he had been thinking, the way he had acted made him want to crawl up into a ball under his sheets and disappear. But if the war veteran had had the guts to kill himself, he would have done so long before the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. His will to 'never give up' had soured into a fear of death, 'never stop running' had become his new motto, after all had he stopped he would have likely died.

But being in the past, seeing everything so clearly and at arms length, was very different. It was easy enough, when he was alone and locked away within the confines of his flat, to think 'I won't do anything, it's pointless' but when he was confronted with the possibility of perhaps changing something, even if only slightly... He was too weak to resist the temptation.

Burying his inner turmoil beneath the surface, he stepped out of his flat, went along the walkway and down the steps and arrived into the same street he had stood in yesterday. Though today, rather than the hustle and bustle of the civilians on a warm and comforting Friday, the streets were almost empty. The slight chill in the air probably factoring into whether or not people left the warm embrace of their homes.

Of course Saturday may have been a day of rest for the civilian populace of Konoha, but for shinobi and the places they frequented, it was business as usual. Having managed to completely stabilise his chakra with a bit of meditating, Kamen could now effortlessly make out the faintest sounds of Anbu and Jonin dancing across the red, green and blue slate roofs.

So far, little to no suspicion was on him, seeing as his visa only listed him as a civilian from the Land of Claws. However he was certain that if he hung around team seven, more than a bit of interest from both Kakashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi would fall on him. One might wonder how the Hokage would even find out about him, but the old man had many ways, one of them being Anbu. Though certainly there would be no official mission to guard the young blond brat, there was always a loyal off-duty Anbu willing to take time off and keep an eye on the boy. Kamen himself had only found such a thing out when Kakashi slipped up in one of their post battle conversations... It made sense though, why risk leaving the village's trump card unguarded?

As his mind wirred and he let his feet guide him, Kamen was trying to think of a way that he might make some cash. The frustrating thing was that he had no credentials and small tasks were all posted as D-rank missions for the village's genin. This mean that he would have a hard time finding a part-time job, let alone a full time job and that walking up to the nearest business and asking if there was anything he could do was also out the window. Heck, even washing the dishes for a restaurant was a D-rank mission in Konoha.

A fond memory invaded Kamen's mind, one in which he was a good thirteen years younger and doing the exact same thing as he was now, job hunting. It had been just after Hiruzen had stopped paying for his rent after he had graduated from the academy and he had splashed what was left of his savings on the finest Ichiraku ramen... He could still almost taste the heavenly salty broth and deliciously smooth noodles... Haa, it had been totally worth almost getting evicted...

Snapping back to reality and wiping the drool from his lips as the sound of his foot landing on something other than the cobble path he had felt until now, he gazed forwards, fully focused on what was before him.

The peaceful of sound running water caressed his ears as it did the river bank, passing beneath the bridge which was before him. His feet had unconsciously carried him to the place at which he felt the most at ease within himself, a place of utter calm and yet at the same time of violent fighting... The third training ground... Flashes of long repressed memories came flashing back, his rivalry with Sasuke, his crush on Sakura, the way all three of them would always impatiently wait for their tardy yet lovable sensei to arrive... A flash of Kakashi from yesterday entered his mind...

That cold eye that he had seen... It still chilled him, but it was better than what he had seen before, in his timeline... That one lifeless eye, staring into the sky as dried blood ran from the empty socket on the other side of his face like a teardrop.

Kakashi's death had been one of the first which had struck him like a felled tree...

"Run and don't look back..."

"But we can help y-"

"What would people think of me if I couldn't even protect my cute little students ? "

Only after finally making it back to their temporary headquarters had the reunited team seven found out that he was dead, until then they had still held out a foolish hope that he might still be alive.

"I-I'm s-so sorry N-Naruto-kun... B-but K-Kakashi-sensei... He's dead..."

Hinata's usual stutter, which he had once found cute, at that time wasn't because she was nervous, but rather because she herself had been devastated. Kamen could still remember and still regretted the harsh and disbelieving words he had hurled at her. He hadn't believed it, didn't want to believe it not until he actually seen it for himself... And that sight was so heart breaking, it was impossible to describe, the feeling of finding your father figure's corpse.

The image of Kakashi's death place was still firmly carved into his mind. It had been somewhere in the land of fire, large trees in every direction and a thick canopy above. Out of the corner of his eye, as he was barrelling through the forest at a blinding pace, he caught sight of it. In a small clearing, a pillar of light pierced the overhead canopy and illuminated a single spot, reflecting off of various sharp metal objects which stuck out of Kakashi's kneeling corpse like a macabre pin cushion. Naruto didn't want to know how many of the various utensils, kunnai, tanto, shuriken and katana that stuck out of his flesh had been inserted while he was still alive, but it told him everything he needed to know.

Kakashi had gone out fighting, his right hand burnt black from an overuse of chidori, his mask half burnt off, exposing his scarred lips, likely also from over using fire jutsu. His head was flung back, as if absorbing the light into his lifeless eye and empty socket where his sharingan should have been. But despite the immense suffering he must have gone through, despite fighting against all odds until his chakra ran dry, despite all this, he had done it for his precious students and he had died with the most satisfied smile you could imagine.

A slight tear began to form in the corner of Kamen's eye, remembering the memory which he had so desperately tried to suppress... It was as if he was re-living it all over again... Mercifully, a high pitched female shout broke him away from his dark thoughts.

"HOW COME WE ALWAYS END UP WAITING AROUND LIKE THIS !"

His eyes snapped back to the bridge before him, eyes catching a glimpse of the current team seven on the other side of the bridge. He was seeing what he had once had from the outside and it pained him greatly. Now was his chance, turn around and leave, none of the three children had noticed him and they wouldn't, not unless he wanted them to... So now was his chance... He could run away, escape the pain and never have anything to do with this world's future... Run and don't look back... Something pushed him forwards, it almost felt as though an invisible hand had shoved his shoulder, he was certain that was just his imagination but either way he lost his balance as he ended up stepping fully onto the bridge. That moment of a lapse in concentration was enough for him to make a sound audible enough for the sharpest of the three to pick up.

Two black eyes, slightly simmilar to Kakashi's, though lighter in color and with less of a glint that showed age and experience, locked onto him. The gaze was nowhere near as cold as Kakashi's had been, but it still held a hint of ice and distrust. It was too late to turn back now, how suspicious would it seem if he just suddenly turned his back and legged it like there was no tomorrow? Instead Kamen settled for slowly approaching the trio, finally drawing the attention of the other two on the bridge.

A cold wind blew across the bridge, shifting the scarf that was currently covering the lower half of Kamen's face just enough to reveal that he was indeed still wearing a facemask underneath. Placing his hands in his pockets, more because they were ungloved and it was cold than to look like Kakashi which, save for the man's own brand of slouch, he did.

Sasuke eyed the man approaching them with a healthy amount of caution, of course he would, it was only natural as a shinobi. But the man's disarming and relaxed attitude was more off putting than anything else, the fact that his mannerisms and quirks resembled his sensei was all so eerie... The young Uchiha couldn't help but imagine that if this Kamen Sakamoto character were to dye his hair white, hide one of his eyes with a forehead protector and put in a black contact lens, the two would be indistinguishable from one another... And again Sasuke couldn't help but notice that something about his eyes was the same as his sensei.

"My you all seem very energetic so early in the morning !"

Came Kamen's sleepy greeting, though one could surmise that the fatigue in his voice was for show.

"Sakamoto-san ?"

Sakura was the first to react, though her confusion was obvious and well founded, why was he here again?

"It's almost mid-day ?"

The ex-jinchuriki of the nine tails turned his eyes on the current jinchuriki of the nine tails. Midnight blue clashed with bright azure and for a split second Kamen felt as though his younger self could read his mind, though certainly it had nothing to with him turning to the blond boy's fuming pink haired team-mate rather than face him.

"I take it your sensei is a little late then ? "

The amusement in the oldest person on the bridge's voice was obvious, soliciting an aggravated huff from Sasuke, who despite doing his best to pretend he didn't know the two other people his age on the bridge, did little to hide his curiosity when it came to Kamen.

"A little late ?" The raven haired boy's voice parroted back incredulously, "He told us to meet at six."

Kamen, having still been in the process of approaching the trio, almost tripped over his own feet as he heard that... He couldn't remember a time that his Sensei had been as late as that, perhaps an hour or two at most, but five whole hours? That was borderline negligence on the part of the scarecrow.

" Holy s-" Barely able to catch himself in time, the veteran straightened himself up, and started again, "I mean... Wow... Your sensei must really hate you..."

Naruto let out a loud and dramatic sigh, placing one hand on his head and the other at his heart.

"It seems like it sometimes..." The blonde did a fake sniff, wiping away an imaginary tear before actually seeming to get angry, having remember just exactly what they were talking about, "The bastard shows up at the exact specified time some days and then on others he can be up to six hours late! Which means that we can't just sleep in every time we're supposed to meet in case he actually arrives on time, and then we're the ones who get our asses handed to us 'cause we're late!"

"Geez... That's..." Kamen mulled over a way to phrase the suffering they must be going though only to decide on a simple; "Harsh..."

The three kids all nodded, seeming to sync up in a moment of shared mutual understanding. But after that little humorous play, a slightly awkward silence invaded the air. Naruto, short attention span that he had, had started absently gawking at the fish swimming along the rived underneath. Sasuke had his arms crossed and eyes closed, with one leg bent and resting on the half wall of the bridge. Sakura was dreamily borderline leering at the latter with heart shaped eyes and mumblings of 'so cool' escaping her lips... Meanwhile Kamen just stood there awkwardly, switching who he looked at every now and again. Didn't they have anything to do?

He hadn't intended on meeting them again, in fact he had hoped against all odds that he wouldn't... Fate however, seemed to have other things planned for him, forcing him into this situation where his whole body felt uneasy, screaming at him to turn away, run and never look back. Though that feeling was slightly duller than it had been the day before.

Deciding that there was no point holding onto the cliff's edge if he was going to fall anyway, he asked the first thing that came to his mind.

"So why don't you guys train a bit until your sensei gets here ?"

"Hey yeah why don't we do that ?" Naruto intelligently exclaimed, turning from the fish back to the current most interesting thing going on, "At least then we won't be wasting our time !"

"Naruto-baka, we're not all like you, we don't have the energy to train in the morning and then again with Kakashi-sensei... Plus sometimes we have to take missions, tiring ourselves out before those is not a good idea... Remember the Land of Waves?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly before placing his arms behind his head and staring up at the sky as if remembering or reflecting on something.

"Hn, Speak for yourself, I'm sure I'd be fine."

Sasuke had always acted a little 'high and mighty', he didn't act like a jerk, unless Naruto called him one, but he still seemed to keep an arrogant distance from the two other members of team seven. Of course that was just a mask, and when the mask slipped away, the real Sasuke showed up, as scared and unsure of the future as a twelve year old should be when his entire clan was massacred. The first time Kamen had seen the true Sasuke, in his timeline at least, had been not long before the chunin exams and before he had gotten 'his' cursed seal...

Come to think of it that wasn't that far away was it? But that wasn't his concern... Instead Kamen remembered that moment when the last loyal Uchiha had thought to be alone, sadness had clouded his eyes, such a deep rooted and hopeless sadness, but behind those clouds was the raging inferno of hatred as bright as the sun and a thunderous thirst for vengeance...

What would happen, Kamen couldn't help but wonder, if he told the young boy the truth about his brother, here and now? Would he regain the love for his brother and garner a hatred for the leaf as he once had? Or would passive acceptance settle in as it did when Konoha was destroyed by Madara and the Juubi? Would it change anything? Something? No... The current Sasuke Uchiha wouldn't believe a word he said and at the soonest possible occasion, Anbu would pounce on the time traveller and drag him off to Torture and Interrogation, never to be seen again.

"Then why aren't you training Uchiha-san ?"

Calling Sasuke, Uchiha-san felt more awkward than if he would have to call the old man, 'Hokage-sama'. He had 'learnt' all of their names the day before but if he just straight up called him Sasuke-kun like Hiruzen or Kakashi did, it would be even weirder.

The young black haired boy turned his face to the side, seeming to be angry at being contradicted by his own actions or rather non-action in this case. However, Kamen caught a glimpse of something, a light rosy tint to the boys cheeks? Was he embarrassed?

A sudden a violent pain erupted in his mind, feeling as though it was about to split as a handful of words jumbled themselves to his attention,"- a few discrepancies due to-" However rather than focus on them or listen to them, he quashed the memory, forcing the pain in his mind to a halt. He forced Kurama's distant voice back into the cellar where forgotten things belonged. He would never again be able to befriend the Fox, not like he once had... He would never be able to form the same bonds he had once held with his precious people... The ones that he had had were dead. The ones before him belonged to his younger self and he wasn't cruel enough to want to take that away from him.

On the outside, Kamen showed no visible signs of the pain he felt both in his mind and in his heart, instead he decided to focus on something else.

" You know Haruno-san th-"

The pink haired girl did little to hide the blush that blossomed on her cheeks as she politely interrupted. That was also strange, since when had Sakura been so... Well… Polite and submissive? Kamen couldn't recall a time when she hadn't been a straightforward, no nonsense type of person. It wasn't that she was rude, but rather when she addressed someone she didn't know it was in a business-like manner. Then again perhaps his memory was just bad, it had never really been his strong suit.

"Please Sakamoto-san, just call me Sakura, the way you say it sounds like my mother..."

A mischievous glint lit up in the time traveller's eyes as he felt the same invigorating feeling as when he came up with a brilliant prank when he was a kid.

"Ma, Okay... Ah, but call me Kamen~kyun."

The pink haired girl stood slacked jawed in shock, her eyebrow twitching slightly before her mouth closed and her eyes narrowed in disgust. Now that was the look he remembered! Wait... That was a bad thing wasn't it? He swiftly Decided it was best to let out a hearty and carefree laugh rather than let the three kids think he was some kind of weird pervert, kami knew they had enough of those surrounding them.

He plopped his hand down on the pink haired girl's head and ruffled her hair up, though it felt strange to do this to someone he had once considered a loyal and respected team-mate, it had been their first interaction in this timeline so he was aiming to make her think that it was just one of the things that he did. Besides Jiraya had always done the same and though he used to pretend that he didn't like it as a kid, the human contact was nice.

"Ma~, ma~, I'm kidding, no need to look at me like that. But do call me Kamen, same for you two. I already look old enough as it is without the 'Sakamoto-san'."

True enough, perhaps due to a lack of sleep or just because of the fact that he had lived through a war, the slight bags under the man's eyes did add a few years to his twenty five years of age.

"Hn."

"Okay! Kamen sound way cooler than Sakamoto anyway!" Naruto exclaimed happily, probably he was just glad that Kamen wasn't ignoring him or treating him like he might go berserk any second, but his face suddenly flashed with realisation as if he had remembered something of great importance. "Mhh, but weren't you going to say something Kamen ?"

There were a lot of strange things that had been going on since he had arrived in the past, but his younger self's lack of -dattebayo had to be strangest. The phrase should have been 'Kamen sounds way cooler than Sakamoto anyway-dattebayo!' It just sounded right, right? Although in the end it did seem a bit strange... When had he himself lost that verbal tick? It was hard to pinpoint the exact moment as a lot of more important things were going on at the time... Was it when Hinata had died? Maybe it was when Sakura had? Or was it when Sasuke bit the bullet ? It didn't really matter either way.

" I-I was..." Kamen stuttered, trying to shake away the dark thoughts that clouded his mind. Back on track he started with what he had originally planned for this conversation to lead to. "Training doesn't have to involve tiring yourself out, there are simple meditation exercises or chakra exercises that require barely any energy. There are even some stretches that don't take much out of you and toughen up your muscles."

" Like what ? Are they super cool ? "

Kamen couldn't help but chuckle at the young blonde's enthusiasm, placing a hand on his head and ruffling his hair. With that done, he began walking towards a the middle of the training ground's clearing, pleased when he heard the three young children following in step behind him. A wave of nostalgia hit him as he walked, spotting the three training posts, one of which he had been tied to because of Kakashi's bell test, and also catching a glimpse of the memorial stone, a huge black rock with the names of all the people who had died fighting for the village engraved into it.

Just breathing the clean and relaxing air here was like a dream to him. But he couldn't let his mind wonder, he was supposed to be teaching these three something useful, something that they wouldn't have had in his timeline... Something that might help them... As he stopped he also heard the footfall behind him stop, twisting around to face his three temporary pupils, he was greeted with three sets of expectant eyes... All three of them were impatient and excited, but there was also a strange innocence to their eyes, even in Sasuke's... Their parents' should have taught them not to trust strangers so easily... If he had been one of Orochimaru's spies... Either way, the academy or even Kakashi should have taught them distrust, even if their parents hadn't... Or maybe it was just his amazing and charismatic aura? Heh...

"Well I don't really know anything about you three so the training methods that I propose may not be to your liking..." With the disclaimer given in advance, Kamen felt slightly less pressured, which allowed him to continue with a tad more freedom, "From what I've seen and heard about Naruto-kun, meditation would be the most enriching experience for him..."

The looks on the Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto's faces changed from expectancy to disbelief, incredulity and horror. A slight sweatdrop ran down the side of Kamen's face at their reactions, he wasn't really that bad was he? I mean he managed to master the toad's Sage meditation quickly enough so how could he not be able to do some simple calming exercises? He had done it many times during his training with Jiraya and it hadn't been that bad... Although... Come to think of it both Jiraya and Fukasaku had resorted to slamming a blunt utensil onto him everytime he would twitch... Phantom pains still haunted him to this day from their beatings...

"Now, I know what you're all thinking but all that energy he has is pointless, I can sense how unstable his chakra is from here... If he could calm himself through meditation his effectiveness in battle would be tripled... Surely your sensei in the academy taught you about chakra formation, right ?"

Two yes' and a no almost made Kamen facepalm.

"Naruto-baka, I even gave you a catch-up lesson about it in wave! Does all the information just bounce off of that thick skull of yours ?"

Naruto seemed to think for a few seconds before a light bulb of recognition sparked up in his mind.

"Oh yeah! I remember now, chakra is made up of physical and spiritual energy right ?"

Sakura nodded in disbelief that he had actually remembered what she had said, then again, knowing him he probably had only remembered it to try and show off. Shaking her head with a sigh she turned back to Kamen waiting for him to finish.

"Well I suppose that theory is, in essence, true; though It is a very simplified explanation for youngsters." Trying to remember vaguely what he had learnt about chakra during the war was quite hard. During the first few years the boffins had gone ham in their labs trying to solve every problem from the origins of chakra to what a soul truly was... They did well, but before the third year was over, most lay dead. "Now, the term 'spiritual energy' comes from the elemental nation's more pious background, but in empirical terms, this 'spiritual energy' is made up of one's unique and personal traits, from the way you think to your natural instincts, basically it's what you could call the 'psyche'. This gives your chakra its nature. This also explains why shinobi oriented towards specialising their sensory skills sometimes can tell different chakra apart by how they 'feel'... You could say they differentiate chakra the same way we differentiate food. Meanwhile the 'physical energy' is the driving force behind your chakra, in the same way that your muscles draw their strength from the oxygen in your blood, the 'physical energy' of your chakra draws its strength from the different energies your body produces. From heat, lactic acid, protein and DNA, that is what your chakra takes its driving force from, in simple terms it draws its strength from what makes up your body, muscles and all. You get it? "

There were three affirmative nods which took Kamen by surprise, until Naruto did a double take and shook his head, which was all of a sudden much less surprising.

On the other end of the spectrum Sakura desperately looked like she wanted to note down every word of what he was saying, but due to lack of paper was instead seeming to play back his words in her head so as to fully understand and remember them. And then there was Sasuke who suddenly looked confused.

"What's 'DNA' ?"

'crap' "Ah... That's may be a little too complicated for you three to understand just yet..."

Deoxyribonucleic acid... It was one of the earlier discoveries the Konoha science team made, they stumbled across the major discovery while trying to find a way to stop the reanimated soldiers and understand how the White Zetsu reproduced... A shinobi's DNA could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hand... Ain't that right Orochimaru? Of course they called them cells back then or rather back now? Time travel was confusing... Hashirama's cells, his DNA, made into a living weapon...

"Anyway, all of this explains why someone who is bloodthirsty by nature will have such an imposing presence even for non-sensor types, or why someone like Naruto-kun here, who is by nature energetic will have very unstable chakra..." Kamen turned to focus down on Naruto who still seemed as though he was having trouble following, but at the very least he wasn't completely lost. "In fact I'm sure you've had plenty of trouble with jutsu that require small amounts of chakra, right? Perhaps the bunshin jutsu, for example?"

Naruto's eyes seemed to widen as if the pieces of some obscure puzzle just magically fell into place.

"Hey, yeah! That's spot on! I'm absolutely rubbish at the clone jutsu... But I don't need 'em, I've got my shadow clones, they're way more kick ass anyway, so why should I have to learn how to do this meditation thingy?"

Kamen feigned surprise and interest at 'discovering' Naruto's capabilities, the young boy looking like a dog with two tails.

"Oh? Shadow clones? Interesting... You definitely have a lot of chakra then... I heard that even making a single shadow clone is enough to tire out the most experienced of Jonin... I suppose some might push you towards chakra control exercises like tree climbing and water walking, but that won't benefit you much... You want to know why meditation will be good for you? If I were to ask you to make as many shadow clones as you could, how many would you be able to make?"

Naruto seemed to hesitate a little, placing a hand on his chin, trying to run through his mind the many times he had used his favourite technique...

"I guess... Maybe a Hundred ?"

Kamen again feigned surprised and pretended to 'hide' it by nodding and placing a hand to his chin, in very much the same manner that the young blonde had.

"That's not bad... Not bad at all, but if you meditated and perhaps did a few chakra control exercises on the side, you'd be able to make the triple of that maybe even more." Letting that fact sink in to the young blonde's mind he didn't hesitate to use the carrot of being even cooler and strong. "You see if your chakra is by nature unstable or excited if you prefer, due to its user's personality then it will be almost impossible to tame with pure chakra control exercises alone, even if you were to work for ten years straight on it. Without meditation you would barely be on par with a genin who's been doing both for a year. And also, a calmer chakra and mind would not only help you in a fight, but also opens up a wide range of different jutsu... You understand why it's important now ?"

All three of his temporary students had been listening, despite the fact that he had only been aiming the speech at one of them, it seemed that his words had put them into a state of awe. The only question running though there mind now was that, why the hell hadn't the Academy taught them all this? You would think it was kind of goddamned important, wouldn't you?!

"Wh-what about me Kamen-san ?"

Sakura seemed slightly hesitant to ask, but at the same time seeing how well Kamen had diagnosed Naruto's main flaw and proposed a fix, all of which without having to do some intense training regime, had motivated her.

"Ah... I mean, you're not from a clan right ? You don't seem physically overpowering... I can feel that your chakra reserves are a little on the small side... I'm really not that sure..." Though Kamen wasn't as certain with Naruto as he was with Sakura, after all, Naruto's current problems had once been his own, so he knew well how to fix them... On the other hand... Sakura and Sasuke were a bit different... After the start of the war and also because of Sasuke defecting, all three members of team seven had grown rather distant... "Your chakra control is probably exceedingly good but that's only because you have such little chakra at your disposal... Meditation wouldn't do you any good, neither would any chakra building exercises... I suppose the best thing for you would be to develop some muscle and perhaps learn a few defensive taijutsu moves..."

The image of an oiled up muscly man posing with his oversized biceps flashed through Sakura's head and a shiver went up her spine as she imagined herself with the same kind of body. No way in hell was she going to do that, she wanted to look good damn it! How else was she going to get Sasuke?

"Um... Thank you Kamen-san but I'm not sure that's really what I want to do..."

Kamen knew well what she was thinking, but instead pretended to be confused at her reaction.

"Really ? It would not only increase your all around effectiveness in combat, but it would help improve the amount of chakra at your disposal. In my mind if you want to keep on working as a shinobi that's the only way forwards..."

"But-but... But I don't want to look like an oily muscle-bound idiot!"

Kamen hadn't been expecting that kind of response, so much so that he couldn't stop neither his eyebrow from raising, nor the chuckle that escaped from his lips, slightly muffled by his scarf.

"That's not the kind of muscle I'm talking about. Besides, those kinds of people use a substantial amount of drugs, either that or they lift weights twenty four hours a day and eat pure protein. No, the kind of muscle you want to build up as a shinobi should be lean. The best kind of exercise for that would be jogging, squats, light weight lifting and even push-ups if you think it won't tire you out too much... You also need to eat the proper amount of protein and fat, otherwise you won't build up muscle and you won't lose your body fat, if you starve yourself of nutrients you body will go into emergency mode and try to retain as much energy as possible in order to survive, that includes the unhealthy fat that hangs around on organs vital for physically demanding activities."

Obviously Sakura had never met a real dietitian, otherwise the shock that was apparent on her face would not have been there in the first place. Of course it wasn't entirely her fault, the misleading, manipulative and borderline evil gossip magazines she had at home could shoulder the majority of the blame, along with their creators. They always said something along the lines of 'eat as little fat and carbohydrates as possible, even better just don't eat anything at lunchtime!', how most of that garbage even got published, only kami knew. This also clarified in Sakura's mind why she hadn't been losing any weight, in fact if anything she had put on a little bit recently.

"Of course you'd need to do this kind of thing everyday and the results won't appear after two or three days... Take stock of yourself before and then once again in two months, just that amount of time should allow you to see the change, even if it is only a slight difference, it should be noticeable... " Kamen then turned from looking at Sakura, who now seemed to be going over her life choices in her head and trying to figure out where she went wrong, to Sasuke who was feigning disinterest. "Ah, I suppose that leave you, Sasuke."

"Hn... I don't think there's much you can do to help me... My training regime and eating habits are perfect. I've read up and asked Jonin for the best ways to improve myself. Nothing about my training is flawed, unlike those two."

Kamen brought his hand up to scratch his scalp, he knew well the kind of regime Sasuke had, hellish, but extremely effective... That didn't mean that there was nothing to say to the boy that might improve his situation.

"While that may be true, I still think a little bit of meditation like Naruto would do you some good... I'm not unaware of the tragedy that befell your family in the past, not many people are. As well as meditation, I think just a simple hobby would do you some good."

Sasuke froze on the spot, as did his two team-mates, they both knew how touchy that subject was and were half prepared for the last loyal Uchiha to try and knock the man's lights out. Instead his mind was reeling from the fact that someone had actually mentioned what had happened to him... People didn't bring that up, it just didn't happen. Either he brought it up and they showered him in unwanted pity or nothing. And yet stood just in front of him was a man who save for using the word 'massacre', outright calmly and coolly stated that his entire family being killed in front of his eyes might have done a little mental damage.

Kamen gained a hefty amount of respect for that, to the contrary of what his two team-mates were expecting. Thawing his tense muscles out, the raven haired boy straighten himself up and pondered as to what the older dark haired man had said.

"A hobby? How would that help me improve in any way?"

It was interesting from Kamen's point of view that Sasuke hadn't question him about meditation, perhaps he knew full well the good that it would do him, that and it may have been in order to avoid a touchy conversational subject.

"You'd be surprised how much it might help." Pausing to reflect on his words carefully, Kamen mulled the words he was about to say both in his mind, trying to think of the best way to put it. "I've lived long enough... Seen enough conflict to know that focusing one's attention on power and knowledge, on defeating your enemies as effectively as possible and all in all, locking yourself into the world of shinobi with no escape routes, is a very bad idea. I've seen men, women and children on all levels of the ninja world, die pointlessly because of it. I've seen loyal soldiers sacrifice themselves for their leader without a seconds hesitation when if they had stopped and thought things through, there were plenty of other options, because of an almost zealous belief in protecting their leader. I've seen leaders themselves perish because they were unsure what the best outcome would be for their subordinates, when the best thing would have been for them to live. I've seen child soldiers, unsuited for battle, give in to hatred and revenge, having witnessed their comrades perish, charge right at the object of their hatred only to be cut down from behind... A hobby may only be the smallest of steps towards avoiding that kind of fate, but it is a crucial one that cannot be overlooked."

Kamen's words had intended to shake the three genin, not just Sasuke, and he had succeeded. For Naruto who wanted to be a leader, for Sakura who wanted to be a loyal soldier, even if only slightly, and for Sasuke who saw himself all too well in the final example... These words were precious and all three of them knew they would not soon forget them.

The resulting silence from the time traveller's speech was so heavy and thick that you could almost cut through it with a knife. Instead of a knife however, they got an eerily chirpy voice.

"Oh my! Whilst I accidentally wondered off of the path of life, my cute little genin have been cheating on me with another sensei, unacceptable !"

The voice echoed out of the forest, in the direction of the memorial stone, which was where all four people in the clearing spotted the man's figure emerge from the shadows. His eye was closed in one of his casual eye smiles, one hand was in his pocket and the other flicking through the pages of a certain orange book. However, only one person in the clearing noticed that when his eye opened, rather than focus on the page that his fingers had stopped on, it was focused solely on Kamen.

"YOU'RE LATE ! AND DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT, IT'S JUST WRONG !"

Kakashi slowly made his way before his young students and their temporary teacher, his eye sticking on the other man in the clearing like glue. Only when he stopped, towering over his students, did his gaze break away from the man. Even so, Kamen didn't let out a sigh, for fear of either drawing attention to himself again, or making the man suspicious.

"I was going to announce that I had signed you up to the chunin selection exam but seeing as I'm no longer your sensei I can't sign you up to anything can I ?"

Naruto blinked at his sensei, who was clutching at his heart and throwing his head back in mock-agony. There was a slight pause as all three children slowly registered what the silver haired man had said.

"Wait... What?"

Naruto, rather than suddenly start jumping around in joy just squinted his eyes and pointed an accusing finger at his sensei.

"Nice try sensei! I ain't fooled, but that sure is a mean joke! And just in case you were serious about the other thing, you don't have to worry, you're still our sensei... Though I don't think it would be the end of the world if Kamen did replace you."

Kakashi pretended to get physical hit by each of Naruto's words, taking a step back as big fake crocodile tears began escaping from his eye. He pulled three paper forms with the kanji for fire stamped on them out of his green vest and then prepared to rip them up.

"Wow! Wait a sec!"

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all reacted simultaneously, leaping towards their sensei in a desperate attempt to stop him from ripping up the precious pieces of paper. Unluckily for them, Kakashi easily and swiftly dodged out of their way, leaving the three of them in a ball of tangled limbs.

Leaving them to try and free themselves from each other, both men looked on with amusement. After they finally managed to separate themselves, all three of them seemed flushed pink with embarrassment, but that quickly faded when Kakashi dangled the slips in front of them. Hesitantly all three genin took a paper each, careful not to get in each other's way.

"Fill out the applications and sign them."

The reality of the situation finally dawned on Naruto and the overwhelming joy he felt pushed his legs into action like coiled springs.

" I LOVE YOU SENSEI !"

Colliding with the silver haired man he laced his arms around his neck and moved his face closer to the older man, as if he were going to kiss him, instead he began rubbing his cheek against the masked man's face like a cat. Kamen couldn't hold his laughter as the elite jonin attempted his best to act completely normal despite the orange ball of energy wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

"Maa Naruto, you're embarrassing me in front of your other sensei!"

When Kamen's laughter returned to his less enthusiastic chuckle, he couldn't help but notice how heartwarming the scene before him was... It reminded him just how important Kakashi was to him, even at this point in time... Kakashi... A flash of the heroic death scene that had sent him to the next world played itself in Kamen's mind. His eyes blurred slightly as he held back the tears in his eyes, crying in front of them now would just make him look like a weirdo. In an attempt to hide his watery eyes, he closed them slightly so that they were half lidded, just like Kakashi's.

Said white haired elite jonin did not miss the look that Kamen was giving them, despite focusing mainly on getting his orange loving student off of him. He recognised that pained expression, after all he had fought in the Third Great Ninja War, many people, even from his generation were veterans of that terrible war.

Finally prying himself away from Naruto's surprisingly steel like grip, Kakashi straightened up his hair and coughed lightly into his hand, putting on his usual nonchalant sensei face.

"Right... Now, if any of you don't wish to enter the exam it's not mandatory. You only need to turn in those applications if you want to. If you do want to participate, the exam is in two weeks so we can take that time to fully prepare you or we can do missions as usual, it's up to you."

All three genin looked down at the pieces of paper in their hands... Such simple looking things and yet the implications behind them were heavy. A paradoxical mix of excitement and anxiety brewed within the rookies of team seven. But their reflections on the matter were brushed under the rug by their borderline obnoxious sensei.

"So aren't you going to introduce me to your other sensei ?"

Kakashi eye smiled, knowing full well that it would trigger Naruto's sense of loyalty that he kept insinuating he was being unfaithful to his sensei.

"Stop calling him that! He-he was just giving us pointers!"

Deciding perhaps it was time they gave their opinions as well, in order to vouch for the peculiar black haired man, Sasuke and Sakura both spoke up.

"Hn, his name is Kamen Sakamoto."

"He's really smart and he knows a lot of neat things! Ah... I mean he's very well versed in shinobi practises..."

Kakashi's only visible eyebrow curved upwards out of curiosity, the more he heard the more he seemed intrigued by the man... Whether or not he that was an act, well only Kakashi himself knew.

"Is that so ?"

Kamen saw the silver haired man turn to look in his direction and a wave of unease washed over him. His response had seemed... Artificial. Had he been listening in on their conversations? Kamen hadn't sensed the man until he had stepped out of the shadows despite how in tune he was with nature energy. Sure enough his ability to detect chakra signatures was diminished when he wasn't in sage mode, but that didn't mean that his senses were completely dull... If Kakashi had been listening in then... He had messed up... If Kakashi found anything suspicious about him, if he even got a waft of Kamen knowing something he shouldn't... It wouldn't end well... Even then, Kakashi's eyes portrayed his intrigue in him well enough... That alone meant his dream of shutting himself in his flat and waiting for the end of the world was dead and buried...

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, it's a pleasure to meet you Kamen-san..." Kakashi walked over to Kamen and shook his hand, all the while obviously looking him up and down. "Would you like to have a drink with me whilst my students ponder on their futures?"

This. Was. Bad. First of all, Kamen had never known Kakashi to be a drinker, not in his timeline. In fact he had once said it 'dulled the senses'. Secondly, he had only ever see the man get friendly around Asuma, Kurenai and Gai... Perhaps Hayate, Genma and Yugao to a lesser degree, but the point was he wasn't the type of guy who invited people he had just met to a bar. Kakashi was like a recluse when it came to befriending people, despite his friendly outwards appearance... Whether that was because he didn't trust people easily or if it was for some other obscure reason, the point still stood... Kamen was tempted to refuse, but he knew all too well that doing so would draw the most attention and suspicion onto himself.

"I've got nothing better to do."

Kamen eye smiled, to which Kakashi did as well, but the only thing running through Kamen's mind was, 'I do actually have something better to do and that's getting some money!', and spending what he had left of it on drinks with the silver haired jonin wasn't exactly going to help!